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Filtering at the Austin Public Library

Policy:
In compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), the Austin Public Library uses SurfControl to filter the public computer stations and OpenDNS to filter the wireless connection. Customers using the computers or wireless access must agree to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy for Public Use Workstations as well as the Acceptable Use Policy for Wireless Access.

If a blocked site is needed for “bona fide research or other lawful purposes,” unfiltered public computers are available for adults 17 years or older in every library location except the St. John Branch. Customers may submit a Request for Reconsideration form to ask that the library permanently unblock or block a specific site. Forms are available at all Library locations. Library staff will evaluate the site and decide whether to accept the customer’s request usually within two weeks. Customers providing contact information will be notified about the decision.

History:
The Austin Public Library has offered free public Internet access at all of its locations since September 1996. Initially, the Internet stations were operated without filtering software or other major restrictions. However, we began to realize, after concerns were raised by both Library customers and employees, that the nature of the Internet and its evolving use in our libraries had created the possibility of civil and criminal exposure for our staff and for the City of Austin.

Under Federal and Texas law, it is a crime to distribute or exhibit material that is "harmful" to minors, or to be reckless about "whether a minor is present who will be offended or alarmed by the display" of harmful material. Our library's goal is to comply with this law without unduly restricting the ability of adult customers to access material that is not prohibited by statute. We consulted with our legal counsel, the City of Austin management, the community and Library staff to determine the best approach to deal with these intertwined concerns. We determined in February 1997 that Internet filtering software provided the best balance of the interests of all concerned.

In 1997, we installed CyberPatrol (now SurfControl's SuperScout) software on all of our public Internet machines. Although this software gave us the option to filter material in many categories, we chose to filter only in the areas of "full nudity," "partial nudity," "gross depictions/text," and "sexual acts/text." Library Internet customers who encountered sites which they felt were incorrectly blocked or sites which they felt should be blocked under these criteria were provided with comment forms to use in bringing the sites to staff attention. Working cooperatively with SuperScout, we were usually able to resolve these issues to the customer's satisfaction.

Having filtering software on all Austin Public Library public Internet stations has, from the beginning, been considered an interim response to a complex question. In an effort to refine our approach, we convened a Community Internet Roundtable in early 1998. This group consisted of representatives from the Library, the City of Austin Administration, Library customers, the ACLU, the PTA, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and others. With the support of this group, we made a number of changes in the options for Internet use available at the Library. First, one unfiltered station was installed at each of four Library locations. Special tables designed to recess and make private the computer monitor. Access was restricted to customers 17 years of age and older. That plan was later expanded to include all libraries.

Internet access at the Austin Public Library is a dynamic process. We will continue to fine-tune the filtering software to optimize the mix of Internet sites that are available to the user and to improve our policies and procedures. We remain fully supportive of the Library Bill of Rights and the freedom of access to information. However, the application of such principles must match the evolving sophistication of the technological, legal, ethical, and moral influences that surround us.